another year is marked by the milestone of tradition... new years eve celebrations, new years day feast, a week of wishes of "happy new year", to friends and family and strangers alike. so happy new year, bon nouvelle annee and gelukkig niewe jaar. this is the year i turn 50 and the year i got married on 2 january in amsterdam and the year i get more serious about fewer passions. my cat rescue is full with 16 lovely creatures- my hairy children- and will no longer accept new clients. it is also the year i change my disease with intervention that will help- not hinder- my bodies healing processes. i will no longer accept the current paradigm and will push for this opportunity until realized. i am listening to new music- beirut and hawk and a hacksaw, and i have a new haircut- short and white-the face in the mirror looks more familiar than ever. i no longer eat grains which includes all the wheat products and i eat only organic and/or fermented and/or raw and unpasteurized. i rarely use my wheelchair and i walk more than ever. i am busy with bandwagons against fluoride, genetically modified organisms, vaccines, high fructose corn syrup and over-regulation, and busy climbing soapboxes for raw, unpasteurized dairy, integrative health practices, multi abx therapies for chronic illness, and alternative fuel sources. I am starting to make my own tempeh and grow my own edible mushrooms... hoping to be munching shitakes and oysters by next fall. also striving to learn all i can of medicinal shrooms like reishi and maitakes. so much to learn in one lifetime. and then there are languages. i have spent much time on french making slow progress and choose to learn my husbands native tongue- nederlandse. i love the dutch language but my memory sucks so i will make this a life goal and approach it more gently. and i feel the need to learn spanish as it is closer to home so will attempt to make some headway this year. my hands are rapidly changing and i must contend with some surgical intervention before it is too late. sounds like a busy year.

This is the time of year I begin feeling the inner tide of change most strongly. It pulls at the confusing motives within. To long for one path while treading the other is chaotic, even for a gemini. My preparations for migration are underway and stirring up the usual turmoil. I leave all that I love and care for in the hands of fate and an amazing cat/house-sitter. And my family? I devour every experience with the melancholy of pending loss or in this case absence. But my adrenaline surges at the approaching of another departure bringing love and affection, intimacy and practice. I am forever anticipating the change which comes with the passing of night into day into night once again. These separate lives kept separate by means outside of my control. I reside in the places in between coming and going, feeling un-tethered and giddy, almost breathless. I am not sure where it will go or how it will change. I just know it will. So for now I hold on.

WHOA. HIBERNATION IS COMING TO AN END. TIS 1ST OF MARCH AND ALMOST SPRING. MANY GREEN SHOOTS PEEKING ABOUT TO SEE IF IT'S SAFE, BORED WITH DORMANCY...THE FRENCH CALL IT "LE PRINTEMPS". LANGUAGES ARE FREAKIN HARD (FOR MOI) TO LEARN. I HAVE BEEN INTERESTED IN ACQUIRING THIS SEEMINGLY UN-USEFUL SKILL (FOR AMERICANS) FOR DECADES. BORN IN GEORGIA TO INDIA TO TEXAS TO ALASKA TO ALABAMA TO TENNESSEE TO KENTUCKY TO TEXAS TO VIRGINIA TO CALIFORNIA TO TENNESSEE TO COLORADO TO RHODE ISLAND TO CALIFORNIA TO SOUTH CAROLINA TO TENNESSEE. I MUST HAVE HEARD UNUSUAL SOUNDS EARLY IN MY DEVELOPMENT FROM SOUTHERN DRAWL TO MELODIC HINDI TO TEXMEX. VARIETY FEEDS THE GEMINI. GRADE SCHOOL INCLUDED LEARNING SPANISH, "ANARANJADO" LOOKS LIKE AN ORANGE AND I AM SURPRISED I REMEMBER HOW TO SPELL THAT. EK, DOE, TING, CHAR, PONCH, CHAY, SOD, ODD, NAW, DUST....THATS WHAT THE NUMBERS 1 THRU 10 SOUNDED LIKE IN GREATER KAILASH, SOUTHERN DELHI. AGAIN ULTRA SURPRISED OF MY RECALL. SOUNDS I GET TO USE ALMOST NEVER. IN HIGH SCHOOL I CHOSE A YEAR OF SPANISH HOPING TO CAPITALIZE ON MY EARLIER EXPOSURE BUT I THOUGHT I REALLY WANTED TO LEARN GERMAN. IN COLLEGE (BUSILY WORKING TOWARD MY DEGREE IN NURSING) I CHOSE AGAIN TO SATISFY MY LANGUAGE REQ WITH THE MOST FAMILIAR- A YEAR OF SPANISH. SO WHY CANT I SPEAK SPANISH? HOLA...MY NAME IS...GRACIAS...DE NADA...POR FAVOR. I'D LIKE TO ACTUALLY LEARN IT ONE DAY AND FULLY INTEND TO BUT THE TIME IS SPEEDING UP AND I AM BUSY WITH FRENCH-BONAFIDE FRANCOPHILE- AND DUTCH-MY FIANCEE IS A NETHERLANDER. MORE LATER...

LA ROCHE BOISSEAU, NUEIL-SUR-LAYON, LOIRE VALLEY, FRANCE.SITTING BENEATH AN EVENING SKY THAT STILL RESEMBLES DAY. SUN SETS MUCH LATER HERE...9:42 P.M.DUCKS LAUGHING ON L'ETANG. MOURNING FROM THE DOVES. TWEETS THAT SOUND LIKE TWEEET RAINING DOWN FROM THE BABY BARN SWALLOWS COZY IN THEIR SPIT MUD NEST ABOVE MY HEAD. WE HAVE NOTICED EACH OTHER FOR MANY DAYS NOW AND WILL TRY VERY HARD TO BE THERE FOR FIRST FLIGHT....SOON. TAKES 21 DAYS FOR BABIES TO FLY FROM THE NEST. THEIR DEDICATED, INDUSTRIOUS PARENTS FEED MANY, MANY, MANY TIMES AN HOUR. SIROCCO, ZEPHYR AND MISTRAL. BON VOYAGE!